Obituary: Sal, of Upper West Side Favorite Sal and Carmine's, Dies

Sad news. Sal of the Upper West Side's Sal and Carmine's has died. We received a report over the weekend from Josh G. that the neighborhood favorite was shuttered due to "an emergency." And now today comes word from Alex Belth of Bronx Banter as to the state of that emergency:

Sal died late last week. I’ve been eating their pizza since I was a kid. Sal and Carmine. Two short, taciturn men in their seventies, though they look older. I never knew who was Sal and who was Carmine, just that one was slightly less cranky than the other. These are the kind of men that don’t retire but are retired.

Coming on the heels of the Newsweek story I just linked to, this couldn't be a sadder and more timely illustration that the great, longtime pizzamen slinging everyday (yet exceptional) slices are treasures we're quickly losing.

Our condolences go out to Sal's family, friends, and fans—and to Carmine, the business partner Sal took on in the '90s. He will be missed.

According to Bronx Banter, Sal's funeral was yesterday, and the shop reopens today.

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About the Author

Adam Kuban is the proprietor of the pop-up Margot's Pizza, which serves bar-style pizza. But you may also know him as the founder of Slice (RIP, 2003–2014) where he has written thousands of blog posts about pizza. He also created A Hamburger Today and served as Serious Eats's founding editor (2006–2010) after having sold those sites to SE.

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